On January 1, 1997, Kofi Annan became the seventh Secretary
General of the United Nations. His election followed a
bitterly-contested United States veto of a second term for his
predecessor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt. The Security Council
recognized it was still Africa's "turn" in the UN's highest
office, and eventually selected the U.S.- and French-backed Annan, a
soft-spoken Ghanaian then heading the UN's Peacekeeping
Department.

Annan proved an innovative and surprisingly independent
Secretary General - far less in thrall to the US than many had
anticipated. Though his choices are severely limited by the UN's
financial crisis and by unrelenting pressure from the US and other major
powers, Annan has won widespread support and learned to maximize his
options. He moved quickly to reassert UN centrality in emergencies
across the globe.

UN staffers have been largely delighted with their new
chief, and morale within the organization soared. Annan, the first black
African Secretary General and the first to rise to the top position from
within the ranks of the UN staff, is appreciated not only for his
political acumen, but for his respect for and willingness to work
collaboratively with his colleagues.

Born in Ghana in 1938, Annan studied economics in Kumasi
and earned a bachelor's degree at Macalester College in Minnesota in
1961. He did graduate work in Geneva and later earned a master's degree
in management from MIT in 1972.

Annan joined the United Nations system in 1962, working in
financial and management posts with the World Health Organization, the
High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the UN Economic Commission
for Africa, and at UN headquarters in New York. He headed the UN's
Peacekeeping Department from 1993-1995, and again in 1996, during a
period of unprecedented growth in the size and scope of United Nations
peacekeeping operations. At its peak in 1995, the UN was fielding almost
70,000 military and civilian "Blue Helmets" from 77 countries.

During Annan's tenure as head of UN peacekeeping, many
problems and tragedies arose, as international crises like Bosnia and
Rwanda overwhelmed the UN's capacity and demonstrated the insufficiency
of support from major member states. While Annan shared some
responsibility, and characteristically apologized for his judgement
errors, the main crises resulted not from Secretariat or
secretary-general failures, but from the refusal of the major Security
Council members to adequately respond and back the UN efforts.

When Annan came into office in 1997, he faced formidable
challenges. The organization was near bankruptcy and it faced serious
criticism and hostility in Washington. In his first weeks in office,
Annan traveled to Washington to build support in the conservative
Congress. He promised to shrink the UN's operating budget, asking in
return that the U.S. pay its $1.6 billion in back dues.

Annan continued his predecessor's cuts in UN staff and
budget. At the same time he introduced many management reforms - a new
post of Deputy Secretary General, a new office of financial oversight to
keep watch for waste and corruption, and a more efficient cabinet-style
management. Still, the United States refused to pay its debts,
prolonging the financial crisis and keeping Annan's UN very short of
resources.

Faced with insufficient funds, Annan sought closer
relations between the United Nations and the private sector. Amid some
controversy, he joined the annual gatherings of corporate chief
executives in Davos, Switzerland, and called for a strategic partnership
between the UN and business. In 1999 he proposed "The Global
Compact," nine principles on human rights, labor standards and the
environment that corporations should adopt. At the same time, the UN
muted its criticism of globalization and gave stronger support to
corporate-friendly open markets. He thus also set the stage for broader
alliances between the UN and its agencies and multinational
corporations. Many critics have noted the tarnished environmental, labor
and human rights records of some of these partner corporations. Critics
are likewise skeptical about the threat to UN decision-making inherent
in UN reliance on funds from private foundations, corporations or
individuals like Ted Turner of CNN. But Annan and his team have been
strongly committed to this course.

Annan has not hesitated to tackle other controversial
issues. Opening the 1999 General Assembly, he spoke in favor of
"humanitarian intervention," stating explicitly that national
sovereignty could no longer shield governments that massively violate
human rights of their citizens. Many developing countries, fearing that
only weaker states would face such response, reacted negatively, but
Annan has persisted in raising this issue, acknowledging the UN
Charter's contradictions between sovereignty and human rights. In
another controversial field, Annan increasingly spoke out about how
economic sanctions against Iraq were causing the UN to be blamed for the
humanitarian crisis facing the Iraqi population.

Under Annan, the UN has greatly increased its use of modern
communications and he has pushed the organization to be more open and
accountable. In 1999 the UN released major reports on disasters in
Rwanda and Srebrenica, assessments that were painfully self-critical and
set a new standard for UN evaluation and transparency. Annan is credited
with promotion of women to higher posts in the organization. And he will
likely be remembered for his effective management and personal
diplomacy, and his warmth and charm in even the most difficult
international crises.

Kofi Annan of Ghana, Secretary General of the United
Nations, has the world's most difficult job. Elected for a five-year
term that began in January 1997, and re-elected for a second five-year
term that began in January 2002, he is the second candidate elected from
Africa, following Boutros
Boutros-Ghali of Egypt. He heads an organization in perpetual
financial crisis and with a very small budget, that nonetheless is
expected to address (and solve) most of the world's problems. He must
accommodate the most powerful countries, while still acting in a way
that appears evenhanded, and he must struggle for peace in a world where
violence and warfare are still the norm. This section considers some
major events and aspects of the job that shed light on the global policy
process.

Nelson
Mandela - A Brief Biography

Mandela's words, "The struggle is my life," are
not to be taken lightly.

Nelson Mandela personifies struggle. He is still leading
the fight against apartheid with extraordinary vigour and resilience
after spending nearly three decades of his life behind bars. He has
sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains
South Africa's best known and loved hero.

Mandela has held numerous positions in the ANC: ANCYL
secretary (1948); ANCYL president (1950); ANC Transvaal president
(1952); deputy national president (1952) and ANC president (1991).

He was born at Qunu, near Umtata on 18 July 1918.

His father, Henry Mgadla Mandela, was chief councillor to
Thembuland's acting paramount chief David Dalindyebo. When his father
died, Mandela became the chief's ward and was groomed for the
chieftainship.

Mandela matriculated at Healdtown Methodist Boarding School
and then started a BA degree at Fort Hare. As an SRC member he
participated in a student strike and was expelled, along with the late
Oliver Tambo, in 1940. He completed his degree by correspondence from
Johannesburg, did articles of clerkship and enrolled for an LLB at the
University of the Witwatersrand.

In 1944 he helped found the ANC Youth League, whose Programme
of Action was adopted by the ANC in 1949.

Mandela was elected national volunteer-in-chief of the 1952
Defiance Campaign. He travelled the country organising resistance to
discriminatory legislation.

He was given a suspended sentence for his part in the
campaign. Shortly afterwards a banning order confined him to
Johannesburg for six months. During this period he formulated the
"M Plan", in terms of which ANC branches were broken down into
underground cells.

By 1952 Mandela and Tambo had opened the first black legal
firm in the country, and Mandela was both Transvaal president of the ANC
and deputy national president.

A petition by the Transvaal Law Society to strike Mandela
off the roll of attorneys was refused by the Supreme Court.

In the 'fifties, after being forced through constant
bannings to resign officially from the ANC, Mandela analysed the
Bantustan policy as a political swindle. He predicted mass removals,
political persecutions and police terror.

For the second half of the 'fifties, he was one of the
accused in the Treason Trial. With Duma Nokwe, he conducted the defence.

When the ANC was banned after the Sharpeville massacre in
1960, he was detained until 1961 when he went underground to lead a
campaign for a new national convention.

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC, was
born the same year. Under his leadership it launched a campaign of
sabotage against government and economic installations.

In 1962 Mandela left the country for military training in
Algeria and to arrange training for other MK members.

On his return he was arrested for leaving the country
illegally and for incitement to strike. He conducted his own defence. He
was convicted and jailed for five years in November 1962. While serving
his sentence, he was charged, in the Rivonia trial, with sabotage and
sentenced to life imprisonment.

A decade before being imprisoned, Mandela had spoken out
against the introduction of Bantu Education, recommending that community
activists "make every home, every shack or rickety structure a
centre of learning".

Robben Island, where he was imprisoned, became a centre for
learning, and Mandela was a central figure in the organised political
education classes.

In prison Mandela never compromised his political
principles and was always a source of strength for the other prisoners.

During the 'seventies he refused the offer of a remission
of sentence if he recognised Transkei and settled there.

In the 'eighties he again rejected PW Botha's offer of
freedom if he renounced violence.

It is significant that shortly after his release on Sunday
11 February 1990, Mandela and his delegation agreed to the suspension of
armed struggle.

Mandela has honorary degrees from more than 50
international universities and is chancellor of the University of the
North.

He was inaugurated as the first democratically elected
State President of South Africa on 10 May 1994 - June 1999

Nelson Mandela retired from Public life in June 1999. He
currently resides in his birth place - Qunu, Transkei.